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Paul O’Connor interviews Tallaght and TCD’s Prof Mark Little about coming to research through the clinical route and his plans for establishing Ireland’s first renal biobank.

Leaving behind a good job with great potential as a Senior Lecturer in Nephrology at UCL, Prof Mark Little earlier this year returned to Ireland to take up the Fottrell Chair in Nephrology at TCD and Tallaght Hospital. An ambitious and passionate clinician-scientist, Prof Little deliberated carefully before making the move.

“I realised that research funding in Ireland has actually been reasonably well maintained through the recession — a deliberate decision to support R&D as a way out of the mess. So, even though in UCL I was working in conjunction with a very strong research unit, I don’t think I would have got the level of funding that I was awarded upon my return, had I remained in the UK. It’s actually easier to get funding in Ireland. There is more available here per application. It may be starting to dry-up now, but there are still great opportunities.”

With the Science Foundation Ireland President of Ireland Young Researcher Award five-year, €1.3 million programme grant, the vital resources are in place to support the translational research infrastructure, as well as providing the basis for establishing a laboratory in TCD. (Continue reading at IMT >>>)